Fishing Report 24 November COD ARE STIRRING GET READY

The latest addition to the StumpJumper series of lures is the new Mega StumpJumper.

This specialty lure is a serious lure for those chasing fish at specific depths. With the quality of technology evolving with side scan and almost TV quality pictures in sounders this lure allows anglers to hit specific depths with ease and slow troll in the strike zone for longer and better results. A patented removable bib system gives anglers every advantage now rather than relying on the fish to be over active and chasing a lure at a depth that the fish aren’t.

Cooby dam

The last couple of warm days have done wonders for Cooby, Trolling the edges close to the weed beds has paid off for some anglers with cod being picked up between the 44cm to 67cm. Still not the biggest cod Cooby has to offer, however a Great Sign of things to come as the heat stays with us for a little longer. Yellow belly still performing well along the buoy line and towards the concrete wall. ZX40s doing their usual magic around the 23ft region in the early parts of the day while salt water yabbies and live shrimp also picking up some good yellow belly and some nice cat fish. Cooby is defiantly a place to keep an eye on over the coming Christmas break.

Cressbrook dam

I can’t stress enough about working the sounder, especially for Cressbroke dam. There has been a couple of good schools of bass found up Bull Arm creek, tail spinners made short work of them, several coming in at 52cm but averaging 45. Eagles Nest also provided anglers with a few more good bass, while casting the edges early morning around the same region gave up some very healthy yellow belly. Deer Island was a popular spot for bait anglers with several reporting good numbers of yellow belly picked up with salt water yabbies, while casting blades along the buoy line gave up a heap of smaller bass.

Leslie dam

The yellows are still providing great sport for many at Leslie this week, along the edges just in the drop offs has been the best spots. A handy hint for those without a sounder has been to find some weedy areas in the shallow parts of the banks were small bait and shrimp can hide, then come back to the deeper part, the yellows will school up in front of the food source and when they are confident, move in for the kill. The ZX40 in the darker color with orange bottom has been performing great in most places and Leslie is no different. Live shrimp and salt water yabbies still doing their share of the catching, especially for land base anglers. The rocky shore section towards the dam wall has been a favourite for many anglers with good results of yellow belly as well as several smaller cod eager to get in on the action.

Coolmunda Dam

It’s been a slow end of the year for Coolmunda, especially since the large intake of water has stirred the clarity up. Just in the last week, even though visibility is still low we have seen some great yellow belly being landed in front of the buoy line dropping down the trusty ZX40, this time the lighter colors have given the best results with the dirty water. The timber line down the back slow trolling bright Stumpjumpers and similar lures has also produced good yellows with some silver perch thrown in for good measure. The most exciting news is the cod that have been landed this week. In the middle of the main basin just off the old creek bed trolling bright color spinnerbaits. The biggest reaching 104cm, this is defiantly a great sign of the cod starting to move about again. Once the water totally settles down it will be the dam to go to.

Moogerah Dam

Moogerah has started to show signs of firing up, Keep an eye on this dam as it’s sure to be going off any time soon. This week has seen some quality bass hitting the decks just out in front of the timbers, use a 1/2oz Jig head, 2/0 or 3/0 hooks, with a white Slider or Atomic plastic. Cast out, allow the jig to fully sink to the bottom. Then with a very slow rise of the rod, then slowly drop your rod while winding to catch the line slack at the same time. Then just keep slowly retrieving, you should be able to get a hit from the bass. Jackal TNs as well as Masked Vibs casting among the timbers has also produced some really good bass and yellows.

Monduran dam

It’s been a slow year at Monduran but with the quality of barra being picked up in the last couple of weeks it defiantly looks like it’s getting back to its usual self. Several of our local anglers who have headed that way have caught good barra on Jackall Hank Tunes and Squidgy Slick Rigs in amongst the timbers as well as trolled lures like the Barra Classics and Gold Bombers along the edge of the timber lines. Fish ranging from 75cm through to 110cm landed this week.

Moreton Bay

Some Great Flat Head being landed all over the South Port, Jumpinpin region. From the rock wall all along the Spit casting large soft plastics such as Squidgy Ridgebacks to the sand banks throughout the whole region you can’t really go wrong. All in the creeks and usual sand banks at the Jumpinpin is also giving up plenty of quality flathead as well as great whiting off of Stradbroke, Crusoe, Kalinga banks etc Still plenty of quality spanish mackerel at the mouth of the Spit all the way up to the Pin. Outside a bit further at the 18s, 24s and 50s there is still good catches of Macks and Kings being landed.

Tip of the week

After forking out all that money on a boat, sounder etc I like to drop the boat in and getting going as soon as I can to my favourite spots. Generally a bit of drive from the

ramp as I like to give the boat a run. Have I been robbing myself of some great catches close to the ramp? A pattern I have been noticing lately it seems to be the same, either salt or fresh water. We come in after a day fishing, drop our left over bait at the ramp, clean fish at the ramps dropping the waste in the water to feed what we believe are just tiddlers. However after spending some time lately fishing many of these ramps as well as talking to other shops, I have discovered plenty of great catches just waiting for me right at the ramp and immediate surrounding areas. Big flathead Bream Whiting around the coastal ramps, in the dams there has been plenty of big Cod caught just around ramps. Copeton, Glenlyon, Coolmunda are just 3 example were the same thing has been reported, large Cod being picked up within a couple of hundred meters from the ramp. Maybe before taking of it would pay to scan the area close to the ramp and try your luck?

Dave McDonald with Leslie Dam Yellow Belly picked up in the method described above.